Non-participating Students Research Articles

Students Motivations For Voluntary Remedial Learning In High School

Most high schools offer remedial learning sessions to their students; however, very little is known about the perception of these activities, especially with regards to the students motivations. In order to gain insights into both topics, an exploratory study was conducted within a sample of 1388 high school students in the Province of Quebec (Canada). Participants were selected on the basis of their voluntary participation or non-participation in remedial learning sessions held at school. School motivation was measured with a questionnaire based on Deci and Ryans SDT (Self Determination Theory); perceptions were gathered and measured with open-ended and multiple choice items. Quantitative results indicated that participants of remedial learning sessions were more strongly motivated towards school. No significant relationships were found between attendance and grades, with similar proportions of high, average and below average participating and non-participating students; however, among participants, girls outnumbered boys by 2:1. Two main categories emerged from qualitative analyses: remedial learning can be seen as: a) an instrumental support linked to the subject matter; or b) a relational support which fosters better learning.

Online Homework Put to the Test: A Report on the Impact of Two Online Learning Systems on Student Performance in General Chemistry

Two different online homework systems were administered to students in a first-quarter general chemistry course. This study used a multiple regression model to control for the students’ academic and socioeconomic background, and it was found that students who completed the online homework activities performed significantly better on a common comprehensive final exam than students who did not participate. More specifically, it was found that students who completed a precourse assignment on an adaptive-responsive homework system (ALEKS; Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) could expect on average their final exam score to increase by over 13 points when compared to nonparticipating students. Students who completed a precourse assignment on a traditional responsive homework system (MasteringChemistry) also saw an average increase in their final exam score by roughly 8 points versus those who did not participate. Students who worked on the online homework for the entire quarter saw even greater gains ...

DO LAB EXPERIMENTS MISREPRESENT SOCIAL PREFERENCES? THE CASE OF SELF-SELECTED STUDENT SAMPLES

Social preference research has received considerable attention among economists in recent years. However, the empirical foundation of social preferences is largely based on laboratory experiments with self-selected students as participants. This is potentially problematic as students participating in experiments may behave systematically different than nonparticipating students or nonstudents. In this paper we empirically investigate whether laboratory experiments with student samples misrepresent the importance of social preferences. Our first study shows that students who exhibit stronger prosocial inclinations in an unrelated field donation are not more likely to participate in experiments. This suggests that self-selection of more prosocial students into experiments is not a major issue. Our second study compares the behavior of students and participants recruited from the general population in a trust experiment. In general, we find very similar behavioral patterns for the two groups, but nonstudents make significantly more generous repayments suggesting that results from student samples might be seen as a lower bound for the importance of prosocial behavior.

Understanding reasons for participating in a school-based influenza vaccination program and decision-making dynamics among adolescents and parents

Influenza remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Vaccinating school-aged children has been demonstrated to be beneficial to the child and in reducing viral transmission to vulnerable groups such as the elderly. This qualitative study sought to identify reasons parents and students participated in a school-based influenza vaccination clinic and to characterize the decision-making process for vaccination. Eight focus groups were conducted with parents and students. Parents and students who participated in the influenza vaccination clinic stated the educational brochure mailed to their home influenced participation in the program. Parents of non-participating students mentioned barriers, such as the lengthy and complicated consent process and suspicions about the vaccine clinic, as contributing to their decision not to vaccinate their child. Vaccinated students reported initiating influenza vaccine discussion with their parents. Parental attitudes and the educational material influenced parents' decision to allow their child to receive influenza vaccine. This novel study explored reasons for participating in a school-based vaccination clinic and the decision-making process between parents and child(ren). Persons running future school-based vaccination clinics may consider hosting an 'information session with a question and answer session' to address parental concerns and assist with the consent process.

Meta-Analysis on the Effects of the Smoke-Free Class Competition on Smoking Prevention in Adolescents

Background: The ‘Smoke-Free Class competition’ (SFC) is a school-based smoking prevention programme including commitment not to smoke, contract management and prizes as rewards broadly implemented in Europe. Objectives: To meta-analyse (randomised) controlled trials on the effects of SFC on current smoking at latest follow-up in adolescents. Methods: A systematic review of articles using MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library was conducted. The study selection included randomised controlled trials and controlled trials with follow-up assessment that investigated the efficacy of SFC on current smoking in students participating in SFC compared to non-participating students. Independent extraction of articles was performed by both authors. Results: Of 24 records identified, five fulfilled the inclusion criteria. These studies were conducted in three European countries (Finland, The Netherlands and Germany) and recruited 16,302 students altogether. A random effects meta-analysis of these five studies revealed a pooled risk ratio of 0.86 (95% CI 0.79–0.94; z = 3.44, p = 0.001) on current smoking at follow-up by participation in the competition. Conclusion: SFC appears to be an effective tool in school-based smoking prevention.

The impact of an interprofessional standardized patient exercise on attitudes toward working in interprofessional teams

Effective interprofessional education engages participants in authentic tasks, settings and roles. Using these guiding principles, an interprofessional standardized patient exercise (ISPE) was developed and implemented for 101 dental, medical, nurse practitioner, pharmacy and physical therapy students. This study describes the ISPE and evaluates its impact on students' attitudes toward working in interprofessional teams. The attitudes toward health care teams (ATHCT) survey was administered pre- and post-ISPE and to a sample of non-participating students. Faculty and students were surveyed post-ISPE about outcomes and satisfaction. Focus groups were conducted with students from each profession. Students' attitudes toward team-based care improved significantly on the team value and team efficiency subscales of the ATHCT. There were significant differences in attitudes toward team-based care by profession. Faculty and student satisfaction with the ISPE was high. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on efforts to generate positive attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration early in training, which may influence students' ability to be effective members of healthcare teams.

Abstract P189: Evaluating the Effects of Free the Children on Students' Self-Efficacy, Eating Habits, and Activity Levels

Background: The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion reported in 2008, obesity was 19.6% in children ages 6-11 and 18.1% in children ages 12-19. Free The Children (FTC) was created by a 12 year-old student to promote healthy eating habits, physical activity, and community service in his peers. The program has grown in popularity and this study aims to evaluate its effect on middle school students who are directly and indirectly involved with FTC. Methods: Middle school students from Project Healthy Schools, a school based intervention in southeast Michigan, completed surveys detailing their self-efficacy, eating habits, and activity levels. To determine the direct effect of FTC, only students in FTC schools were surveyed and comparisons were made between participating and non-participating students. To measure indirect effects of FTC, all students were surveyed, regardless of their involvement in FTC, and comparison made between students who attended FTC schools and those who did not. Statistical analysis was conducted using non-parametric, independent t-testing and chi-square analysis. Results: In the second comparison, students at FTC schools ate better, exercised more, and also had higher self efficacy. Conclusions: Students who attended schools offering FTC had better eating/activity habits and significantly higher self-efficacy ratings. Students that directly participated in the FTC program showed even better results for diet, activity and self-efficacy. These results suggest that the FTC program may have both a direct and indirect positive impact on health behaviors and emotional status in middle school students.

Factors that Influence the Decision to Pursue an Internship: The Importance of Mentoring

The purpose of the present study was (1) to determine if students from one veterinary school who participated in a mentoring/employment program with clinical faculty were more likely to pursue internship training than their peers and (2) to determine factors via survey that were influential to veterinary interns in making their decision to pursue post-graduate clinical training. Our hypothesis was that a mentoring relationship with clinical faculty was an important influence on the decision to participate in an internship. From 2006 to 2010, graduating students who participated in a mentoring/employment program with a clinical faculty member were 6.3 times more likely than non-participating students to pursue an internship. The majority of the participating students (90%) were initially hired/mentored as first- or second-year veterinary students. In the survey, interns ranked clinical faculty as having a greater influence than basic science faculty, private practice veterinarians, or house officers on their decision to pursue an internship; 82.8% reported that clinical faculty were most responsible for encouraging them to apply for an internship. Employment by their veterinary teaching hospital (41.5%) or directly by clinical faculty (26.2%) was commonly reported. Most interns (37%) decided to pursue an internship during their fourth year of veterinary school, 29.2% decided during their first year, and 15.3% decided in their second year. These results suggest that clinical faculty play a key role in a student's decision to pursue an internship and that it might be valuable to inform students about internships early in the veterinary curriculum.

Validation and application of a novel method of measuring non-response bias in school-based surveys of paediatric overweight and obesity

To validate a method of estimating non-response bias to a school-based survey based on body mass index (BMI). A population survey of Australian students in Kindergarten and Grades 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 (N=5 407) was conducted in 2004, and height and weight measured. Teachers matched the height and weight of all students who were selected to participate, but who were not measured (non-participating students) and of half of the students whose height and weight had been measured based on comparisons with the remaining half of measured students. Among those students whose height and weight had been both measured and estimated based on matching with the most similar student, percent agreement between the BMI categories based on measured and estimated values was calculated to determine the validity of the estimated BMI value. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among participating and non-participating students was compared to determine the magnitude of non-response bias. For more than 88% of classes, percent agreement between BMI categories based on estimated and measured height and weight was >60%. The differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity between participating and non-participating students were all less than one percentage point. Most teachers were able to validly match students based on their height and weight, allowing estimation of and adjustment for non-response bias among non-participating students.

Did We Overestimate the Role of Social Preferences? The Case of Self-Selected Student Samples

Social preference research has received considerable attention among economists in recent years. However, the empirical foundation of social preferences is largely based on laboratory experiments with self-selected students as participants. This is potentially problematic as students participating in experiments may behave systematically different than non-participating students or non-students. In this paper we empirically investigate whether laboratory experiments with student samples misrepresent the importance of social preferences. Our first study shows that students who exhibit stronger prosocial inclinations in an unrelated field donation are not more likely to participate in experiments. This suggests that self-selection of more prosocial students into experiments is not a major issue. Our second study compares behavior of students and the general population in a trust experiment. We find very similar behavioral patterns for the two groups. If anything, the level of reciprocation seems higher among non-students suggesting that results from student samples might be seen as a lower bound for the importance of prosocial behavior.

Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note Elizabeth A. Jones Frequently faculty members revise and reform their general education courses. They often introduce innovative structures and content to meet their students’ needs. In this quarterly issue, we begin with an article by Olsen, Bekken, McConnell, and Walter that describes the implementation of a two-year interdisciplinary curriculum focused on the theme of earth sustainability. In their article “Teaching for Change: Learning Partnerships and Epistemological Growth,” they present the results from assessments they conducted on this new curriculum and its impact on student development. They find that this new curriculum significantly improved students’ epistemological growth over the traditional general education. The new curriculum relied on the integration of more constructivist principles and practices than had been utilized in the past. This example of a major innovation clearly demonstrates that the curriculum and pedagogy can be deliberately designed to make students more self-conscious about their learning and help to enhance stronger learning. The next article, by Dunlap, Anderson, Rademacher, and McMenamy, explores the contribution that upper-division nursing and teaching courses make in relation to the achievement of certain types of general education competencies including reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking. In the article “An Interdisciplinary Focus Group Study on Students’ Perceptions of Preparedness for Upper-Division Coursework in Teaching and Nursing,” the authors discuss differences in the importance of acquired skills mainly in reading and writing. Preservice teachers rated analysis skills somewhat higher than did their preservice nursing peers. Teacher candidates emphasized analyzing content, while preservice nurses focused on understanding research. Overall, student participants perceived that they learned more when their course experiences were professionally relevant and practice-based. The final article, by McCleary and associates, focuses on student participation in large classes. In their article “Balancing Participation Across Students in Large Classes via Randomized Participation Credit,” the authors find that with [End Page viii] respect to achieving greater balance in discussion across students, the greatest improvement was found when decreasing the percentage of nonparticipating students and increasing the percentage of credit-level participation. In addition, they find that instructors’ behaviors, including asking questions and providing positive feedback, did not enhance or diminish any treatment effects. I hope that you find these articles useful as they seek to assess various dimensions of student learning and development. You may wish to contribute to this dialogue by sending in an article about the results from your own general education assessments. [End Page ix] Copyright © 2011 The Pennsylvania State University

Assessment of a motivational interviewing curriculum for year 3 medical students using a standardized patient case

ObjectiveWe sought to evaluate a year 3 motivational interviewing (MI) curriculum using a standardized patient case. MethodsThe 2-h small group MI curriculum included a didactic presentation followed by interactive role plays. During a clinical skills assessment at the end of year 3 the MI skills of 80 students who had participated in the curriculum were compared with those of 19 students who had not participated. ResultsThe standardized patient reliably rated the students on their performance of 8 items. Students who had participated in the MI curriculum were significantly more proficient than nonparticipating students in the performance of 2 strategic MI skills, importance and confidence rulers (ps<.006). The groups did not differ in their use of patient-centered counseling skills or collaborative change planning commonly used in MI. ConclusionsThird year medical students can learn to use MI skills that specifically aim to enhance patients’ motivations for change. Practice implicationsMedical schools should consider providing students with MI training and MI skill assessments using standardized patient cases to help students prepare to counsel patients for behavior change.

Structured Physical Activity can Co-Exist with Improvements in Academic Performance in an After School Setting

Under the terms of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (enacted January 8, 2002), the United States Congress and the President set high standards for academic performance of America's public schools. These benchmarks force school districts to make difficult personnel and curriculum decisions when academic performance does not meet the minimal standards established by this Act. Unfortunately, areas like art, music and physical education were not considered critical and were left behind. The omission of physical education in the Act runs contrary to what most teachers, parents, and administrators would agree on that physical activity not only combats obesity and juvenile diabetes, but also positively affects academic achievement and improves self-esteem. Administrators understand this but also understand that they are not held accountable for the physical fitness of their students. After-School All-Stars (ASAS) is a comprehensive after school program designed specifically for middle school-aged children living within the urban environment. Components include academic programming (homework and subject-matter tutoring) through project-based learning experiences, enrichment programs (organized club activities and field trips), parental/family involvement, exposure to technology, and structured physical activity. Physical activity includes large-scale, age-appropriate, culturally-relevant programming. The innovative HOPSports Training System has been used effectively in these settings. ASAS in Atlanta has 1,787 middle school aged children participating five days a week, three hours per day for 160 days during the academic year at nine different school-based sites. These children were matched against their peers who did not attend. For those attending, academic performance measured by standardized testing (reading, English/language arts, and mathematics), grade point average, and day-school attendance surpassed those not attending. In addition, all the ASAS students received a weekly dose of 2.5 hours of structured physical activity. Non-participating students received little to no physical activity during the week. This study demonstrates that structured physical activity can co-exist with improved academic performance in middle school- aged children.

Bringing High Tech to the Heartland

This paper describes a one-year project to bring computer skills and strategies for computer equity to rural middle school teachers. A variety of distance learning methods was used to train teachers. Teachers carried out projects involving their classrooms and the community, to encourage parental support of computer education for their children. Projects are briefly described, and the results of interviews with students of participating and non-participating teachers are reported. Participating students, both girls and boys, reported more often than non-participating students that they will probably use computers in the future and want to know more about them.

Did We Overestimate the Role of Social Preferences? The Case of Self-Selected Student Samples

Social preference research has fundamentally changed the way economists think about many important economic and social phenomena. However, the empirical foundation of social preferences is largely based on laboratory experiments with self-selected students as participants. This is potentially problematic as students participating in experiments may behave systematically different than non-participating students or non-students. In this paper we empirically investigate whether laboratory experiments with student samples misrepresent the importance of social preferences. Our first study shows that students who exhibit stronger prosocial inclinations in an unrelated field donation are not more likely to participate in experiments. This suggests that self-selection of more prosocial students into experiments is not a major issue. Our second study compares behavior of students and the general population in a trust experiment. We find very similar behavioral patterns for the two groups. If anything, the level of reciprocation seems higher among non-students implying an even greater importance of social preferences than assumed from student samples.

Group mentoring for junior medical students: perceptions of mentees and mentors

Entering medical school can be associated with a number of difficulties that can hinder students' performance. Mentoring programs are designed to help students circumvent difficulties and improve their learning and personal development. The current study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of both students and mentors regarding a recently introduced, group-based mentoring program designed to support first-year students. After one year of regular meetings, students and mentors' perceptions of the program were assessed by means of structured questionnaires. Response content categories were identified through multiple readings. Both regular attendees and non-participating students had positive opinions about the program. Mentors were highly satisfied at having participated and acknowledged that the program has been useful not only for assisting students, but also for fostering their own personal and professional development. In conclusion, the group-based mentoring program is feasible and can elicit positive views from both mentors and students. In addition, faculty members' participation as mentors can also be beneficial, since the program appears to contribute to their own personal and professional development

Mobile serious games for collaborative problem solving

This paper presents the results obtained from the implementation of a series of learning activities based on mobile serious games (MSG) for the development of problem-solving and collaborative skills in Chilean 8th grade students. Three MSGs were developed and played by teams of four students, who had to solve the problems posed by the game collaboratively. The data shows that the experimental group had a higher perception of their own skills of collaboration and of the plan execution dimension of problem solving than the control group, providing empirical evidence regarding the contribution of MSGs to the development of collaborative problem-solving skills.

Impact of an Intergenerational Program on 4th Graders' Attitudes Toward Elders and School Behaviors

The rapid growth of the elderly population coupled with research demonstrating the existence of ageist stereotypes even among very young children have led to the rise of intergenerational programs. Very limited research has been conducted, however, to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs in producing attitudinal change or other beneficial outcomes for at-risk children. This study examined the impact of an intergenerational program on children's attitudes toward elders and on their school-based behaviors. Eighty-one 4th grade children enrolled in an inner-city school participated in the study. Forty-one children, with matched seniors partners, engaged in activities based on the 4th grade core curriculum within an outdoor classroom environment while the remaining 40 children participated in usual core curriculum activities. At the conclusion of the program those children who participated in the program had significantly more positive attitudes towards the elderly and significantly better school behavioral grades than did non-participating students. Implications and recommendations for intergenerational programming are discussed.

Impact of an Intergenerational Program on 4th Graders' Attitudes Toward Elders andSchool Behaviors

The rapid growth of the elderly population coupled with research demonstrating the existence of ageist stereotypes even among very young children have led to the rise of intergenerational programs. Very limited research has been conducted, however, to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs in producing attitudinal change or other beneficial outcomes for at-risk children. This study examined the impact of an intergenerational program on children's attitudes toward elders and on their school-based behaviors. Eighty-one 4th grade children enrolled in an inner-city school participated in the study. Forty-one children, with matched seniors partners, engaged in activities based on the 4th grade core curriculum within an outdoor classroom environment, while the remaining 40 children participated in usual core curriculum activities. At the conclusion of the program those children who participated in the program had significantly more positive attitudes towards the elderly and significantly better school behavioral grades than did non-participating students. Impli-

Prospects: Final Report on Student Outcomes.

Prospects: Final Report on Student Outcomes, by Michael J. Puma, Nancy Karweit, Cristofer Price, Anne Ricciuti, William Thompson, & Michael Vaden-Kiernan. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates, 1997. 96 pp. (Available free from the Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202-8240). Reviewed by Phyllis McClure, Independent Consultant, Washington, D.C.. In the 1988 Hawkins-Stafford Amendments that reauthorized 1 (now known as Title I), Congress commissioned a major longitudinal study of the effects of participation in the federal compensatory education program on achievement and other related educational outcomes. Prospects: Student Outcomes is the culminating report of that study. It summarizes the information gleaned from tracking a large, national sample of the same students in three grade cohorts from 1991 to 1994. Students were drawn from high-poverty schools (75% or more poor students) and low-poverty schools (25% or fewer poor students). Data were collected from student records, student profiles completed by teachers, student questionnaires, parent questionnaires, and reading/language arts and mathematics scores from the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills 4th edition (CTBS-4). Another volume, Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity-Technical Report, provides a detailed description of the study design and implementation. The legislation also called for an interim report published in 1993, which contains extensive data on students in high-poverty schools, 1 students, districts, schools and classrooms, and language minority and limited-English-proficient students. Prospects: Student Outcomes presents its findings in straightforward, nontechnical prose divided into four chapters. The first of these is an introduction outlining the dimensions of the Prospects study, the history of 1, and characteristics of 1 participants. The second chapter, Did 1 Help Close the Gap? examines methodological issues, the relationship of test scores to school poverty level, and student outcomes for program participants. 3 focuses on the characteristics of high-performing high-poverty schools, those that foster academic achievement despite having high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students. The concluding chapter offers an exploratory analysis of factors associated with student achievement and growth over time. 1 services consisted of supplementary instruction offered for about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. This low intensity of extra assistance was expected to compensate for the large achievement gap. Program participants were by definition and requirement the lowest achieving students. Although the purpose of the program was to improve educational outcomes for these students, Prospects concludes that, as operated prior to its 1994 reform, Chapter 1 assistance did not reduce the initial gap in academic achievement between participating and nonparticipating students. Where children start out compared to their classmates largely explains their relative academic standing in later grades (p. 41). Using CTBS-4 national norms and the criterion-referenced test data provided by the test publisher, the study found that the majority of students could not master the reading and mathematics skills expected of them at their respective grade levels. Students in highpoverty schools were far less likely to master grade-level skills than were students in low-poverty schools. The performance gap was generally larger in higher order skills than in more basic competencies. Even when controlling for a variety of student, family, school, and classroom variables, the study found that: (a) students receiving 1 assistance scored below nonparticipating students, (b) students who had more intense assistance tested below those who received less help, and (c) 1 did not, over time, close the performance gap between economically disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers. …